Is Migrating to a "Little Tibet" the Solution? (Little Tibet - Part III)

posted Oct 2, 2013, 5:51 PM by The Tibetan Political Review

By Mila Rangzen

Four decades of Middle Way Approach (MWA) with no Genuine Autonomy in sight proves that it has failed.

There
is something wrong with the key we have been using to unlock the Tibet
issue. MWA Advocates in power ought to be more creative by compromising
further as a way to realize a livable reality. The political
administration of the Sakya Lamas, Phakdruks, Ripungs, Dhepa Tsangpa,
Miwang Pholha and Gaden Phodrang from the 13th century up to the fall of
Tibet in 1949/1959 did not reign beyond the Drichu River. Therefore any
claim on Genuine Autonomy cannot stretch beyond the Drichu River.
Period. Tibet that we know of today as chokasum (The three traditional
regions of Tibet under the governance of a Tibetan government based in
Lhasa) simply did not exist as one united political entity for the past
eleven centuries! What can we do now?

The
alternative is to drop the demand for Genuine Autonomy for Dhotoe,
Dhomey and Utsang under one giant Tibetan administration over 2.5
million sq-km of territory, and instead demand Mini Autonomy on a
landmass of just 100,000 sq-km around Kongpo and the adjoining areas to
the west and east of it. Carve out a half moon map and call it Little
Tibet in which Tibetans from different parts of the Tsenpo era Tibet can
be relocated and yet remain a part of People’s Republic of China (PRC)
while Beijing would still control defense and foreign affairs. The
authority to enact laws or regulate migration of non-Tibetans to Little
Tibet would rest solely in the hands of the Tibetans. PRC would fund the
relocation.

Mini
Autonomy is a high level of autonomy that is similar to the rights and
freedom enjoyed by Hong Kong under one China two systems or Sikkim or
even Ladak –the Little Tibet of India. Given the political reasoning of
the MWA proponents that compromise is the key means available to strike a
deal with PRC; this proposal is highly sensible and reasonable. Mutual
agreement can be reached in a couple of years and Little Tibet can
materialize within a decade and the bardo of Uma and Rangzen (Proponents
of autonomy within China and Tibetan independence respectively) will
finally come to an end. What more can we ask?

This
proposal is far more realistic than demanding Genuine Autonomy over 1/4
of the current Chinese Territorial size. PRC can never let go such a
vast resourceful territory to a non-Han people whose population is less
than 1/226 of the overall PRC population. Mini Autonomy over Little
Tibet is definitely more practical than hoping for the grand Genuine
Autonomy that has china losing everything and gaining nothing. If there
is any basis of hope for Genuine Autonomy, why wouldn’t there be more
basis of hope on Mini Autonomy over Little Tibet where the demand is
over only 100,000 sq-km or just 4% of the 2.5 million sq-km of Tibet,
and the remaining 2.4 million sq-km or 96% of the disputed territory is
given up completely? Whether PRC blows up mountains in the given up
areas for uranium or transfer to the valleys a Chinese population of 100
millions over night would be none of our business once an agreement is
reached. PRC shall enjoy the vast Tibetan territory and its resources
worth hundreds of trillions of dollars for the next millennium and
beyond with no disruption or protest from us. This approach will silence
the Chinese accusation that Tibetans are seeking independence in
disguise. Producing this result will close down Rangzen camp for good
and we shall all be reunited with our brethren in Little Tibet enjoying
the fruits of Mini Autonomy. Meanwhile, Tibetans from every part of
Tibet should start moving defiantly with their belongings including
livestock to Little Tibet. Locals in Little Tibet should welcome them
with tents pitched near their dwellings. The ground realities are tough
but the idea and the process must not be mistaken for an indian
reservation in the US. The fact that the Chinese are in Tibet for the
greed of the land and its resources, not for the love of the Tibetan
people is obvious.

When
PRC can squander $40 billion on a 16 day Olympic Games in 2008, the
cost of relocation of less than 6 million Tibetans to Little Tibet is
easy. The US relocated hundreds of thousands of refugees from Vietnam,
Laos and other countries in the 70s across land, sea and air without any
unbearable difficulties. PRC with GDP $12,610,000,000,000 can do it
too. When more than 30 million Irish, Italians and Jews left their
respective countries in Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th
century and moved to the US with next to nothing on rickety boats on
turbulent seas stretching over thousands of kilometers, the relocation
of Tibetans on land within the same country is a simple task. With just
about $100 billion to $200 billion, PRC can easily relocate six million
Tibetans in 6000 concrete lasting buildings in Little Tibet. Of course,
Tibetans can move to countryside if so wished. This is not an
unbelievably huge sum for PRC and it’s a matter of taking one small
decision on her part. In this venture, United Nations would also
intermediate and help with funding, expertise, time and energy.

It
is not far fetched to expect a donation of $1 billion to $ 5 billion
from each major country that has remained silent on Tibet where justice
has been brutally raped for over six decades without the slightest
provocation or justification. Approximate $200 billion donation windfall
can be fix deposited in a world bank for two reasons a) PRC cannot
swindle it b) Use the interest earned annually on rebuilding Tibetan
life in Little Tibet. History is a witness that none of them supported
Tibetan independence or the Genuine Autonomy since the Chinese
occupation in 1949. The European guilt that ensured an independent
homeland for the Jews in Israel in 1947 should be extended to us at
least in the form of Mini Autonomy over Little Tibet. Are we asking too
much?

For
Tibetans to relocate is not an issue for most of the Tibetans are or
were nomads for centuries so to be on the move is nothing new, and to
relocate one big time is no big deal. Nearly three thousand Tibet
Tibetans on foot crossed over the 300km wide snow covered Tibetan
Himalayan borders in mid winter to Nepal and India every year from 1980
to 2008 with the minimum clothing and no equipment whatsoever and
majority of them walking their way back through the same treacherous
route after tasting Dharamsala for awhile. Migrating to Little Tibet in
freedom should be an indescribable joy. The fire that burns within the
chest of every Tibetan including new comers inside India, Nepal ,
Bhutan to migrate to the west at substantial personal cost, sometimes
incurring debt as high as $40,000 per person is true and impressive from
a business perspective. Moving to a stunning corner of your own known
familiar country with a certain future with your own folks in charge
should be even easier.

With
each passing day we as a people are nearing extinction in our own land.
Ironically, the threat of extinction comes not from the guns of the
Chinese troops guarding the Himalayan borders in the distance but from
the millions of innocent looking Chinese civilians in our villages and
towns and cities. The Chinese population in Tibet is now estimated at 12
million to 15 million and it will continue to rise rapidly. Such
massive Chinese population would engulf Tibetans in opportunity,
modernization, education, jobs, language, business, sports,
administration, trade, culture and politics and we will be forever at
the receiving end in our own land. Mini Autonomy in Little Tibet will
rescue us from this imminent threat. Since Little Tibet borders with
Arunachal Pradesh in the south with a million inhabitants with whom we
once shared history and culture, it raises two options, what they are I
leave to your imagination, when geopolitical scenarios change in the
future.

There
are least 17 independent nations with less than 200 sq-km of land. At a
first glance, 100,000sqkm of land mass may seem small and insignificant
but this is not supposed to be the case when more than 110 sovereign
nations and 29 non-sovereign nations with a population ranging from 1000
individuals to 50 million people who are not only surviving but
flourishing economically, politically and even militarily in a landmass
of less than 100,000 sq-km e.g. Hong Kong (1100),Taiwan (36,000), South
Korea (100,000), UAE (84,000), Switzerland (40,000), Singapore (700),
Netherlands (34,000), Kuwait (18,000), Israel (22,000), Ireland
(70,000), Denmark (43,000), Bhutan (39,000), Belgium (31,000), and
Austria (83,000). Mini Autonomy over Little Tibet with a population of
less than 6 million Tibetans is no difficult matter at all to succeed.

Tibetan
love for nature is legendary. Little Tibet is a fertile land rich in
minerals, flora, fauna, marine life, air life, fresh water with moderate
climate all year round except a little cold in winter but certainly not
colder than the freezing Dharamsala winter. With the development of
Tibetan instinct for business and passion for education over the years,
we can in an Autonomous Little Tibet produce tens of thousands of sharp
masters and brilliant Phd’s with a zeal for community progress and
creativity, the most important goal of learning and education. Focus on
education and business will eventually ensure our political brain power
which is behind the fire power that defeats overwhelming manpower as we
witness in the Israel- Arab scenario.

Buddhism
being central to the Tibetan life, Tibetan population of less than six
million will not see rapid rise as many Tibetans given the freedom and
free facilities will become monks and nuns quite happily. Polyandry,
unprotected sex, promiscuous sexual culture, aids, hepatitis B will slow
down our population growth. With the rise in career consciousness, our
population will increase slow and steady. Our population which was
estimated at 10 million in the 7th century, today after 1300 years, when
it should be 60 million, is only less than 6 million. With a small
population to take care of, the strain on Little Tibet for its natural
resources will not be unbearable for some centuries.

Located
in Tibet Autonomous Region with Lhasa in the North West and Arunachal
Pradesh in the South East, Kongpo is one of the most important cradles
of ancient Tibetan civilization having been settled as early as five
thousand years ago. It is famed for its ancient verdant mountainous
terrain and clear waterways. It is indeed a great location to practice
and preserve our identity, language, freedom, Buddhism and culture, and
while at the same time benefiting from Chinese economic prosperity. This
is the ideal spot from where the Dalai Lama can realize his idea of
spiritual sanctuary for humanity in distress, a zone of Ahimsa (peace)
from which the Dalai Lama can inject reality into his dreams of
universal responsibility and harmony of world religions.

According
to a renowned Tibetan historian Lobsang Shastri based in New York,
Nyatri Tsenpo- the first Tibetan king, was born and bred in Kongpo! Also
for the faith driven there are numerous pilgrimage sites including holy
hot springs, waterfalls, lakes and rivers, sacred mountains, and the
trails of Guru Rinpoche, Thangthong Gyalpo, Dorjee Phagmo and also the
famous Kongpo Ben Rock! Yarlung Tsangpo River also cuts through the
Kongpo making the famous Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon which is 496 kilometers
long and is four times deeper than the Grand Canyon in America. 16,000
feet deep! It is, in fact, the deepest canyon in the world and this fact
alone can ignite a mega tourist industry for self sustenance, peace and
prosperity. 20,000 sq-km of the southern Little Tibet can be declared a
wildlife sanctuary protecting world’s endangered species from wild yak
(the symbol of Tibetan freedom) to magnificent tigers, generating extra
revenue through wild life tourism while also helping the world become
less poor and less ugly. What a double contribution, one at local level
and the other at global Dharmic level!

Those
who may feel emotionally betrayed because of the perception that your
local land is given up need not feel so. Whether it is Siling in Amdo or
Chamdo in Kham or Lhasa in Utsang, they all belong to all the Tibetans
and not just to the locals. Similarly, Kongpo and the adjoining areas
belong not just to Kongpowas or Pemakoepas or Zayulpas or Lobas but to
all Tibetans. What is given up to PRC and what is demanded from PRC
belongs to all of us Tibetans equally. For now the fact remains we do
not possess control over an inch of our land and the independence
struggle has been abandoned for four decades and no Genuine Autonomy in
sight. Everything in Tibet is Chinese for six decades now. The walls
are closing in on us. No amount of petty immature internal bickering
will make this eventuality go away. Find a way and adapt or die.

However
beautiful and realistic Little Tibet may sound, it will not come about
voluntarily. In politics, there is no such thing as free lunch and we
have to struggle for every scrap of it. And in the absence of a top down
and a bottom up struggle in the true sense of the word, not even 1
sq-km of the barren Jangthang will be given to us for underneath that
small piece of land, feeling no threat whatsoever from us, the Chinese
occupier sees, regardless of whether it exists or not, oil worth $10
trillion. A war between India, Japan, and the US on one side, with China
on the other side of the power spectrum can result in any possibilities
in our favor but for the foreseeable future such a mega war is highly
unlikely due to mutual vulnerability of nuclear proportions. Whatever
the case might be, we cannot afford to wait praying any longer.

The
birth of Little Tibet will come about when each and every Tibetan
recognizes the necessity of fulfilling this humble and yet realistic
vision, it will come about when we realize Mini Autonomy is like the air
we breathe, the first and foremost requirement for our survival. That
it will come about when we reject blind faith and the emotional
blackmailing from our leaders. That it will come about when we reject
apathy as bliss and cronyism as getting smart. That it will come about
when we embrace critical thinking, rationality, and problem solving
skill. That only through nonviolent action, hardship, sacrifice,
militant action and diplomacy can freedom be won eventually. In my final
post on this, I will share with you the practical ways and means to get
there. Until then stay glued!

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The author is a Tibetan American who formerly served with the US Armed Forces as an active duty member. He can be reached at milarangzen@gmail.com